jlc9731

This is not surprising from the worst President in history. He will destroy the military, our nuclear capability and our world status, just to create more social giveaway programs. This is all part of his bigger plan.

WorkingStiff-Ohio

The American Legion editors should not shelter the actions and so-called "budgets" of Barack Hussein Obama any longer. He is acting in an UnConstitutional manner nearly every day. We are a Republic based on a written Constitution outlining a separation of powers and limitations on the responsibilities and powers of the Executive Branch. We are now under the rule of a petty dictator, not a real President. And it has NOTHING to do with his RACE, but EVERYTHING to do with his Marxist policies.

USMC3531

What I don't understand is if the war cost us billions of dollars, when we bring our soldiers home we should be saving billions of dollars so we should not have to reduce our forces.
While I do not support our president, it is the congress that we have to keep our eyes on.

CONSTANTINE66

We can go back and forth about who's been,or is the worst President.I don't see how you can justify keeping our present military budget at the rate it is .The US spends more then the next 8 countries combined on its military budget.Our military industrial complex has gotten out of hand. Eisenhower was right.Why don't we raise taxes on the rich to help pay for retirees .Because without them the rich would have never had a chance to be in the position they are now. There would be no America without the sacrifice of past generations.

aircav

Constatine66, I respectfully disagree with some of the points that you raise, 1st no country ever lost a war because they were too powerful, I don't mind the level of spending, in fact when you look at the aggressors around the world and their capability of doing mass damage, I am not sure we are spending enough. Eisenhower was wrong on his warning, it isn't a military industrial complex that worries me, it is bureaucracies of any size, they all need to be tamed, and wasteful spending needs to be eliminated as much as possible. As far as taxing the rich goes, I assumed you served as well? Why are you so for destroying the very thing that you pledged your life for? In America rich, smich, we all move fluidly from poor to middle and rich and back again, Heck I have made and lost small fortunes and am working back to make another, our founders fought the equality of living and safety net that so many people seem so willing to trade for a little temporal security. That security is an illusion, it never existed other than in the minds of the useful idiots squad of Marxist regimes. I respectfully ask you to reconsider your position, we do not need to tax the rich, we need to stop stealing from the producers of our country and giving it to the free loaders, that is where 70% of all our money goes.

Namvet378

Aircav,
I agree with you about 98%. Ike got one thing right. When he deported almost one million illegals to open up jobs for the returning vets. to those who say they are only taking jobs nobody wants, I suggest they go to Texas, Arizona, New orleans and try to get into carpentry, roofing, construction and a lot of other trades that MANY US citizens would jump at.

ronje46

If this President is allowed to continue it will weaken our military to the point that any country intent on doing us harm will. He is intent on destroying our freedoms and way of life that so many men and women have lost their lives protecting. Another 4 years of this man and it'll take 20 years to buld our country back to where it was before he took over.

onederer

This is sad to say, but we have a president which borders on the edge of being a traitor to his country. He has done everything he can to weaken this nation. And his leftist buddies are shielding him, or are totally blind to what he is trying to achieve.
Obama doesn't care who he hurts by his actions. He sounds good with his double-talk, but he's a total failure on a his promises and accomplishments as the leader of this nation.

ejbrace

U812duS

I believe the Congress and Senate make the laws which we have to abide by. The President only signs or vetoes. I don't care for the current Presidents policies, but our Congressmen and Senators are the ones who will be making the laws that will drag us down or pull us up. It's always the military retiree who pays for the nations budget problems. We did our part, but we are no longer an asset as they see it. I agree, they shoud cut their salaries as good faith in cutting the deficit.

Namvet378

I respectfully disagree. Obama sent planes and pilots to libya without consulting congress at all. He has used presidential decree already a couple of times as well. He has already stated that if congress doesn't get moving HE will take action under HIS athority. This is not constitutional.

trs73147

Our military should always be better equipped, better trained, and better suppported than any potential enemy. It is never in our best interest to fetter our military with undue budget constraints. By the same token, our military leadership ALWAYS needs to deliver to us the most bang for our buck.

Michael1946

It's obvious that with the ways of fighting a war these day vs.say vietnam that enhanced technology should be a factor reducing manpower in the armed forces. Can we not do more today with less manpower because of technology? Just that alone could cut dollars out of the budget. Cut manpower/not programs.

tom343

Yeah but this high tech stuff is really not teachable in a reasonable time to a force we might have to build up in the face of a threat. And no enemy will give us time to both raise and train an adequate force. In any future conflict of any magnitude, we go with what we got.
What helped see us through in WWI and WWII (besides our spirit) was time to create, arm and train a large force together with distance from the actual battlefields. Other factors that time seems to erode more and more is unity of purpose and willingness to sacrifice.

Namvet378

Michael1946,
do you remember when Clinton was in office? do you also remember that certain missile guidance technology exchanged hands between us and China??? Those codes on the unmanned drones are already being reverse engineered from the drone that was captured in Iran. you can't replace a thinking seeing, trained soldier on the ground with a drone.

LEO ROBERTSON

THE U.S SPENDS MORE ON THE MILITARY THAN ALL OTHER COUNTRIES COMBINED. WE DO NOT WANT TO BE LIKE N. KOREA WITH A HUGE MILITARY AND IT PEOPLE GOING HUNGRY. NO, THE PRESIDENT IS NOT THE WORST PRESIDENT WE EVER HAD. IT WAS W! THE PRESIDENT IS DOING THE RESPONSIBLE THING AND WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF THE BETTER PRESIDENTS. EMPHASIS MUST BE GIVEN TO "PROVIDING FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES. OTHER NATIONS MUST DO MORE TO KEEP THEIR BAD NEIGHBORS IN CHECK L.H.

tom343

aircav

Leo,
Less caffeine man...
Oh and take a history lesson, Hillsdale college is offering a free online course on the constitution, you should take it... Then let’s have a talk about who the worst president is..

robertegoss

Defense spending is more than 50% of the US budget when including VA and insurance. What is obvious is that 11 Bravo types need to be minimized as we need to fight smarter using technology. Look how much damage has been done to Al Quaeda by drones! This is what should have happened in Iraq and Afghanastan instead of boots on the ground. There is no doubt that W Bush will go down as the worst President in history after invading two countries based on false pretences of WMD and yellow cake. He is also the President of the worst recession since 1929 and had the worst deficit of any President. President Obama has ended one war and got most of the Al Quaeda leaders when Bush could not find one! (Notice that Cheney has shut up since Bin Laden was killed?) President Obama has done more for our Vets than any other President, has brought us out of Bush's recession, saved the auto industry and therefore over a million jobs. Obama has returned our international status of THE leading country after Bush made US an outlaw country in the minds of our allies. This is why Obama was given the Noble Peace Prize just for getting elected! Obama will go down in history as one of the greatest presidents, a truly great commander in chief!

PEdwardSimpson

I normally just read these comments and not bother to reply, even though there is often so much nonsense. However, THIS comment is beyond the pale!

First, the small nit-picks. LEARN SOME HISTORY!! The worst president in history? We could debate that all day, but then you had better be conversant with the history of presidents like James Buchannan, Warren Harding, James Polk, Millard Fillmore, etc.

Bush's war on false pretenses? Quit parroting the bald-fce lies of the Left! First, WMD was only number four in the list of 23 reasons for action that Powell put before the U.N. Security Council. Furthermore, WMD WERE found! Have you forgotten those 500 artillery shells filled with chemical agents? Furthermore, Wilson was lying to the press about the yellow cake issue, which both British and French intelligence agencies verified.

George Bush was hardly the best president we've had, but he didn't do THAT bad. Obama, on the other hand, is a complete failure. (However, I still wouldn't rate him as lower than, say, Warren Harding, an outright crook.) Obama has little concept of world politics. ("Arab Spring" my butt! What has REALLY happened is that Libya, which is more Berber, Tuareg, Riff, etc. than Arab has now been delivered firmly into the hands of the Arab dominated Muslim Brotherhood, as has Egypt. Now Syria is in the crosshairs, and Jordan will be next. We are now a whole lot closer to an actual nuclear war in the Middle East!)

Obama also has no rational understanding of economics, and that is the real problem. Stay tuned, folks, for some disturbing facts.

Obama's solution to the recession, like that of Bush at the end of his term, was bailouts with BORROWED dollars! THAT is the problem.

We do NOT spend over half of our budget on the military. That "honor" goes to transfer payments. Now, the Lefties will complain that Social Security, Medicare, etc. have their own "trust funds" and are "off-budget". However, those "trust funds" are Treasury securities, which means they are actually part of our debt! Here are the facts. Every year, the government collects about $2.3 trillion in payroll, income, and corporate taxes. It pays out about $2.4 trillion just for direct transfer payments and interest on the national debt. In other words, even if we shut down ALL functions of the federal government, including the courts and the ENTIRE military budget, we would still be going deeper in the hole by $100 billion EVERY YEAR.

Hey! Let's tax the rich! Folks, we could completely CONFISCATE the entire fortunes of the Wall family (Walmart), Bill Gates and the rest of the Microsoft kids, Bloomberg, and a few hundered others, and it wouldn't add up to the total budget for even one year!

We are in DEEP trouble, and I see no signs that most politicians even begin to understand that. What will probably happen is that the Fed (Federal Reserve) will keep creating money out of thin air, which in the long run will lead to massive inflation and the collapse of the dollar.

I agree that the federal government should keep its promises to retirees and veterans, and that we should always have a strong military. Unfortunately, that can not and will not happen.

whynot

This budget crisis would not have happened if prior administration had taxed to pay for the wars they led us into. In my life time we have fought two provoked wars WW II and Afghanistan. The others were undeclaird and rushed into without exhusting deplomatic process. These undeclared wars have robbed this nation of much wealth and many lives with out achiving the intended goals. The last war we can claim victor was WW II.

aircav

No, what has robbed us of our wealth was the democratic party, most recently the duality of Woodrow Wilson and FDR, there is a special place in hades for those men... Their policies cemented government control beyond reason, They were the enablers to the new mercantilists, Statist, corporatist takeover of citizens lives. They and their cronies took advantage of American naiveté and sold us into bondage worse than mechanical shackles would have been, we now work 62% of the year to feed the government. To put that into perspective Kim Il Sung in order to keep his people subjugated, instituted a confiscatory 66% tax rate when he brought communism to North Korea.

tom343

I am not career military; I did my 2 years and then 6 or 7 in the reserve and then goodbye. But Uncle Sam has no business lying to its soldiers. The money that could fund the government's moral obligation to its vets is being expended for many so-called social programs. Often these are merely blatant attempts to buy votes. Almost always, the services and functions ought to be the responsibility of states and not the fed.
Even if everybody has to pay more taxes, the government's first responsibility is national defense, and included in that is the obligation it put upon itself to manage the vets decently.

jcherry7

We live in perhaps the most dangerous period in our history. The Iranian gov't has declared many times its firm intention to eradicate Israel and the U.S., along with much of Europe. It continues development of missiles and nuclear devices. It continues its relationship with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon and other terrorist organizations. Our President bombed Libya without authorization from Congress, but can't find a way to stop that piss-ant in Syria from slaughtering his own people. He wants, instead, to unilaterally disarm, both by drastic reductions in force and by destroying our own nuclear weapons. Presumably this will set a good example to the world, and our "enemies" will then swoon and follow him down the path to enlightenment and peace forever, amen. This President is utterly filled with his own ego. He got too many blue ribbons for 'trying' when he was a kid, and never learned to recognize the finality of mistakes for a man in his current job. Congress needs to take him in hand, now, while the country can still be saved.

hotdropzone

Maybe the veteran community and it's allies will finally come together upon the realization that the Democrat party cannot be entrusted with any realm of security concern. They are irresponsible in such matters. They do not want to safeguard the borders but rather create a pathway to citizenship for border violators. They want to---and do---cancel essential and proven weapon systems like the F-22, for just one example. They propose to cut our nuclear arsenal by 80% and give the Russians classified data on the speed of our anti-missile missile defense systems and shrink our military in critical ways even as our chief enemies---China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela---are expanding and arming in new and dangerous ways. The Democrat party is the home of the Neville Chamberlains of our time. While making any concession sought by opponents to achieve "peace in our time" they are preparing the way for catastrophic losses, expense and pain that will surely come. But they do not exercise such foolishness only in the realms of security. They also wish to embrace such dangerous and destructive views and behavior in the realm of economics where they impose foolish spending and tax policies that disable or dissuade the capitalistic system that enables wealth and prosperity to occur. Instead, they offer the seductive song of wealth transfer from "The Rich" to the undeserving poor, who are encouraged to wait for pennies to fall from the heavens. When The Robin Hood of Government seeks to take from "The Rich" you can count on "The Poor" to egg them on. But when "The Rich" have been stripped of their wealth and beaten into submission, where then will new reserves of wealth be found to sustain governmental greed and abuse? Or protect and nurture the society our Founding Fathers entrusted to us as responsible caretakers? The Democrat Party coddles and encourages The Takers at the expense of The Makers.

Father Don

Every member of the Legion should recognize this president has no budget even the Democratic Senate will pass, no plan for the future other than socialism, and thinks he will win diplomatically by showing weakness rather than strenth. He should be a one-termer.

tom343

It's unfortunate but the administration, meaning the president and his cronies, have two objectives in mind. Make many as possible economically beholding to his party and make this nation on a political par with the European Union. He will bankrupt the country to do it. It is in the papers he wrote while in school. He thinks, thanks to his upbringing that it is the moral thing to do, a sort of "Custer died for your sins" mentality. I am scared.

MasterChiefAFCM

Every time the country gets in a pickle the military steps up and unselfishly stands tall to protect our blessed way of life. But when the government lies and uses our men and women to do its bidding, well, that is deplorable.

Why in God's name should this same government expet to o reduce the deficit on the backs of our men and women in uniform? If not for two unjust wars and the associated costs bourne by the government's actions we wouldn't be in such dire financial straits (at least the wars produced a large part of the debt.)

Our military members have given much already in terms of life and blood. Enough is enough. Mr. President, look elsewhere for your spending cuts and leave veterans alone.

srexk

This is a typical Democratic action after hostilities lessen , WW1 Scuttle hakf the navy. Reduce the army. WW2 Truman cut the defense department drastically. After Korea same thing. FDR was forced into rearming by the attack on pearl harbor. They will never change . We need to remember The other Rosevelt, Teddy. "Speak softly, but carry a big stick." His "Big stick is on display at the little White House in Hot Springs GA.

mk1

Reading many of the above comments makes me realize more than ever just why I am not an active member of the Legion. I joined as I felt I should because I am a vet and have a son currently on active duty. I am sorry but the ignorance of the members shown above and the blind allegiance to the military is beyond belief. To me the American Legion was a dismal failure to our troops with their support of President Bush and his purely political Iraq war. Now that is treason. With the current cuts we will still have a larger Army and Marines than prior to 9/11.

203blues

We have the largest military in the world. As big as all the rest of the world put together. It's no wonder our whole country and infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes. We all saw what happened to the USSR. Wake up guys.

schehld

The Legion was founded to support veterans programs. The legion has become too politically involved in the Defense budget which is none of the Legions business. I realize the majority of Legion members are extreme right wing conservatives. The Legion maintains an office in D.C. to supposedly maintain a laison with Congress to support veterans affairs. While this group of Legion lobbyist was boozing it up, the facilities at Walter Reed were crumbling. Why do I pay dues, when our local Post operates as an open to the public bar and grill for every dead beat drunk in town? If I had my way I would mothball half the Aircraft carriers and fighter aircraft and reduce troop strength by 50%; fire half the civil servants in DOD and replace them with military.
Hopefully President Obama can keep the war mongers under control during his next term. Obama is the greatest President since Eisenhower. No more wars unless they are paid for with tax increases.

Back_Home_in_Indiana

"If I had my way I would mothball half the Aircraft carriers and fighter aircraft and reduce troop strength by 50%; fire half the civil servants in DOD and replace them with military."
This sounds like "Ron Paul" Isolationist-izm. Sure, dump all those GOV employees on an Unemployment line. Not to mention all the 'Support' business lose their jobs too.{stores, food, clothing,schools,housing}.
Are you stocked up with candles, horses, and buggies/wagons.

Bob95490

No we are not Right wing extremists, we believe the best National Defense is a strong National Defense. We don't believe in kowtowing to petty dictators like the present occupant of the White House. The present occupant of the White House has dome more to ruin this nation's defense than any presiodent since Jimmy Carter and it is past time the citizens called a halt to this destruction.

denver dave

Waste and abuse is rife within the DOD. At Ft. Benning they now build a Warehouse at approximately $197 per Sq. Ft. for bldg. only to in process new soldiers. That is more than the cost of a luxury home with land. Cust CAN be made, but not where these fools propose. This president and his lackies are imposters, cowards and traitors of the most insidious sort, hell bent toward the total destruction of these United States from within.

radarace

england11

I am as a past commander of the american Legion I am a big supporter of the military. However, I do not believe we should be the worlds police force. We do not need a military base all over the world.2szkx

Mr. Buck I.

Seriously folks, almost half of you think we can ONLY cut DOD spending when there is world peace? I mean when is there ever going to be "stability" and no "hostilities" in the world? Gee, I wonder why we have budget problems. Politicians read these sort of stats and tell you voters whatever you want to hear, including "Let's bomb Iran" like it's some sort of hobby to Americans. And most of you have it wrong about the American Presidents over the last 2 decades. It wasn't President Bush or Obama who caused most of the Pentagon budget problems. They are puppets to the Generals who are really controlling and driving the militarism spending across the globe. Do your research people!

Accskp

If you want to cut military spending then bring troops home, don't drop so many bombs and reduce ops tempo. Don't renege on promises made to veterans and retirees. I don't care how you spin it but if you reduce benefits, you are not "supporting our troops".

Toms 48

Donna J. Fanatia

President Obama said it right when he said, You can do just as much damage with a small well equiped, well trained force, as with a large force. America has the best trained and equiped force in the world. As far as the decimation of the atomic arsenal, who needs enough weapons to wipe out the world 13 times when 1 is enough.

robertegoss

The American Legion is supposed to be a lobby for veterans. Instead its an arm of the Republican Party; old men fooled into supporting more wars. It gathers in small towns and promotes alcoholism learned at the noncom and o clubs. When I was an homor guard in the Army they came to military funerals with their goofy cunt caps and people laughed at them. Wake up old men, get educated, and stop promoting war. It kills your children and fills VA hospitals with maimed boys who will be there for life. Any sane person will do everything to reduce military spending.

BingoBoy

He cuts the military and keeps military aid in for Edypt even when the Brother of Islamists are running the govt. Also he keeps $800 Billion in the budget for "new" Arab Springs! What country is he president of?

Bob95490

Bingo, this is a Spot6 On assessment of where Obama's loyalties are. He attempts to move heaven and earth to aid our enemies. He should be ashamed of himself and would be if his loyalties were really with this country instead of with those dedicated to our destruction.

nevetsdp

To weaken our military is to weaken our nation. With so much of the world wanting to destroy us we need to be able to defend our country. This President wants us to fall to third world status so he can rise up to be the leader of the whole world. He is NOT an AMERICAN.

Michael1946

Agreed... W Bush's war only started as an attempt to show how he could make daddy proud of his son, backfiring into lives lost and billions of $$$ spent... and now taking it out on the military to cut the budget. WTF?

hellcatcomanche_two_one

If we let the generals have everything they want, we'll end up with leaders like the one played by George C. Scott in "Dr. Strangelove". When the Soviet Ambassador had finished explaining the workings of their "doomsday device"; a series of nuclear explosives which would detonate and destroy the world if the USSR were ever attacked, the general said "Geez, I wish we had one of those doomsday machines." This kind of thinking is counter-productive but is more prevalent than one might think. The DOD can find 8% or more to cut, if they want to. Of course, the key is "want to".

kevincayler64

On many issues, I'm conservative. But I am not a Republican - those two terms have taken completely different paths. On other more social issues, I suppose I'm pretty liberal - but again, wouldn't consider myself a Dem, for similar reasons. Both parties have managed to divide the citizens of this country by keeping us distracted by their b.s. rhetoric, while at the same time working directly for their corporate bosses - legislation proves this. Our current President is not liable for the current ills perpetrated by the decades of corruption of both parties; nor is any president (by himself) able to "bring down our Constitution" or cure everything that's wrong. However, President Obama sure inherited (as boner-a major corporate lackey- likes to say) a "crap sandwich". At inauguration: 750,000 per month job loss rate. Obama didn't start 2 recreational wars that have almost completely decimated our economy. He has ended one and will have ended the other before the end of his second term - yes, there will be a second. He also didn't start "foreign aid" to any middle east country, those programs have been in place for decades. The Republican choices are sad jokes, bought and paid for. Yes - I would like to see corporations and superrich pay more taxes; after all, it's our military that are being used to cover their interests. (if you think these wars are about terrorism and not over oil/strategic bases/etc, you're naive or dumb or both) And if you believe the "Patriot Act" is Constitutional- you've never read it. It really is past due for a clean sweep of most, if not all, of Congress.